ABC Has High Hopes For Marvel Series

ABC president Paul Lee says he has a serious “glint in his eye” when it comes to the network’s partnership with Marvel TV and the handful of series they have in development thus far.

“We would love to make a Marvel franchise work on the network,” Lee told reporters on Monday morning at the Television Critics Association winter press tour.

Lee reiterated that he was “thrilled” by the prospect of hosting Marvel series, citing the “A-list showrunners” attached to the two adaptations currently in development — Twilight scribe Melissa Rosenberg is working on AKA Jessica Jones, while filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy) and Battlestar Galactica‘s David Eick and shepherding a reboot of The Hulk.

Both of those projects are in development for fall 2011, and Lee says there could be more moving forward.

So many “superhero” type movies and shows being developed, both for theaters and now tv – feels like overkill is soon to arrive.

Why not try a Marvel Heroes Movie thing, like the old NBC Mystery Movie? You could do (6) 90 minute episodes of 4 entirely different shows and rotate them. If one of them becomes a breakout – you spin it off into its own show.

I’d thought of something similar awhile back. “Marvel Comics Presents” would be an hour long, featuring 2 half hour segments. The stories would vary in length such as a “Moon Knight” story would run for 4 episodes, while a Shang Chi might only run 2. Or maybe a “Marvel Team-Up” series…..

Seriously, Jessica Jones is a nice choice but the Hulk? They can’t afford the cg for a tv show and bodybuilder Hulk just doesn’t cut it. A really strong guy in slowmotion with green bodypaint is all people will see.